As I Brew My Morning Coffee

“If I miss you when I’m doing math, can I sneak off into a corner and weep?”

“Can humans and dogs get married? Can I marry a man with enormous
muscles so he can carry you around when you’re old and weak?”

“When I’m eighteen can I have ten kids? Can you leave us the house and that
blue dress? Maybe all your clothes and rings?”

“Will you come back every morning to make their beds? Can you help me put
them in their car seats?”

“Can my kids sing Happy Birthday at my grave when I’m dead? Can they bury me
a piece of cake?”

“Can they bury my body next to yours so we can hold hands in the earth?”

“How does Grandpa live all alone? How can he be so old and not know how
to juggle?”

“Will it hurt to have ten kids? Can you do it for me? Should I marry a woman so she can have the babies?”

“How old were you when your mommy died? What if I get reborn and you can’t
find me?”

“Where do you go to pee when you’re dead? Can I be a policegirl and also
make robots?”

“Can you wait until I’m a grandma before you die?”

“Can dogs and robots get married? What happens when one of them dies or
breaks?”





Claudine Nash’s collections include The Wild Essential (Aldrich Press, forthcoming), Parts per Trillion (Aldrich Press, 2016) and The Problem with Loving Ghosts (Finishing Line Press, 2014). Her poetry has appeared in numerous publications including Asimov’s Science Fiction, BlazeVOX, Cloudbank and Haight Ashbury Literary Journal among others. She is also a practicing psychologist. www.claudinenashpoetry.com